


A Day with Dad

by baisley



Series: Dagcup-verse [4]
Category: DreamWorks Dragons (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, Family Fluff, Fatherhood is hard, Fluff, M/M, Post Mpreg, Toddlers, Trans Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, single or otherwise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:36:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24000703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baisley/pseuds/baisley
Summary: Dagur experiences life as a single father. The children are not amused in the slightest with the turn of events.
Relationships: Dagur the Deranged/Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
Series: Dagcup-verse [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1607173
Comments: 8
Kudos: 34





	A Day with Dad

**Author's Note:**

> No Beta!

Dagur stirred awake at the familiar feeling of lips on the skin of his neck and warm, lithe arms embracing him. A sleepy smile touched his lips. He snuggled deeper in the warmth behind him and heard his partner chuckle.

“Morning.”

“No,” Dagur sighed contentedly.

He heard Hiccup laugh. “What?”

Dagur turned in his arms to face him, wrapping his arms around his husband in return. “It’s only morning when the kids come and start screaming ‘good morning’,” he muttered against his tunic. “No kids, no morning, means we stay in bed.”

The sun had just begun to make its ascent, but Dagur learned to never take sleep for granted. Especially with three children.

Hiccup laughed at his logic. “If you say so.” Dagur could feel the smile in his voice. He put a leg on his waist as an extra measure that he won’t get up.

“Pet my head,” Dagur muttered, blindly grabbing for Hiccup’s hand and placing it on his head expectantly.

“Since you said please,” was his sarcastic reply, but he began to run his hand through Dagur’s hair, nonetheless. Dagur was just about to fall back asleep to his gentle motions when he spoke again. “What’s the plan today?”

“Stay in bed,” he mumbled in reply, inciting another short burst of laughter from Hiccup. A tug of his hair had Dagur’s lips quirking. “Oh, I don’t know. Go to the trading docks, check their wares, go and fill up the pantry. There’s a list I can tell you but that’ll just put me back to sleep.”

“Bring the kids with you?” Hiccup asked, carding fingers through his hair again.

Dagur lifted his head to look at him, a curious look on his face, along with creases from the pillows. “You going somewhere?”

Hiccup tried to smooth the creases with his thumb. “Council meeting, remember? I drew the short axe between us last time. From how they keep hounding me to go and all the complaints piling up, I’d bet it’ll take most, if not all of the day.” He sighed with misery.

He smacked Dagur’s shoulder when he merely laughed at his misfortune.

“Hey, that means you’ll be with the kids the whole day. So, really, I should be laughing at you.”

Dagur scoffed. “Easy.”

Hiccup stared at him with disbelief, eyes wide. “Easy-” He cut himself off, his face shifting to a look of realization. “ _Oh_ , that’s right. You’ve never been alone with all three of them, have you?”

“I’ve taken care of each them alone at one time.” Dagur’s brows furrowed. “They were fine. It’s not that different.”

Now it was Hiccup’s turn to scoff. “Yeah, but that was when they were babies, now they’re _toddlers_. And you only took care of them one by one for less than half a day, never all three, for the whole day.”

“You think I can’t do it?” Dagur narrowed his eyes at his husband, who didn’t back down from his glare.

“Just telling you what you’re up for,” he replied noncommittally.

Their conversation was interrupted by small footsteps and a chorus of giggles from behind their door.

“Looks like morning’s about to give us their wake-up call,” he teasingly whispered, just in time for them to hear the door creak open and the giggling enter their room. Both husbands shared smiles, staying still to keep their ruse.

They closed their eyes when they felt the bed dip under a set of new weights, then the sounds of hushed, “quiet, quiet!”

“Dada!”

“Shhh! Hammy, quiet! Dagny, the pillow.” Dagur nearly laughed.

More giggling, then, “One… Two…”

An assault of pillows rained on their face, along with shrieks of “Morning time!” “Wake up! Wake up!”

Although their wake-up call was routine, Dagur still sputtered and flailed to avoid the pillows as if he had not expected their onslaught. Tyra and Dagny jumped on their bed, discarding the pillows, continuing with their song of “Wake up!” Hiccup smiled at them while Dagur cooed as their son crawled between them. He sat up and looked at Dagur expectantly, sucking on his fist.

Dagur carefully pulled his youngest’s saliva coated fist from his mouth. “We’re up, we’re up,”

He pulled Hamish to his chest as he sat up with an overexaggerated groan, much to his son’s irritation. Hiccup rose also and catching the girls in his arms, garnering squeals of surprise as he began to tickle them. “You three are always so early! Why huh? Tell me why you have to wake us up so early!” He nibbled on his eldest daughter’s chubby cheek.

“Be-Because- _haha!-_ Because you- _Haaahaha!-_ you sleep too long!” Tyra managed to utter through her laughter.

Dagny had managed to wiggle free from Hiccup’s attack and had begun to pull the blanket away. Dagur was mercifully clothed since the previous night had a chill about in the air and it lingered in the morning; he shivered once the blankets were pulled away.

“How did you even get out of your cradle, hm?” Dagur asked his son, lifting him up. 

“Dada! No!” Hamish kicked his legs, wanting to be put down. He was an independent little guy, and always put up a fuss when he gets carried around longer than he liked. Even _if_ he did demand for it first.

“Toothy helped!” Tyra piped from Hiccup’s arms, recovering from being tickled.

As if summoned, the Night Fury himself lumbered into view by their door and chuffed. He warbled expectantly at Hiccup, who knew he was impatient to be fed. It seemed that his children shared the same sentiment as they crowded around Dagur and begun pulling him out of bed.

“Daddy, we’re hungry! Go make breakfast!” said Tyra, pulling on his arm. Dagur was about to deliver a reprimand for her not so polite request when Dagny pulled his attention away.

“Daddy, Daddy, I don’t want to eat eggs,” Dagny piped, wrapping small arms around his neck.

From the corner of his eye, Hiccup was grinning at him as he put on his prosthetic. Dagur narrowed his eyes at his back and turned to his kids with confidence, ready to comply to their wishes when he instead uttered a gasping choke as a well-aimed kick to his groin from his youngest had him curling on himself.

“Daddy got hurt!”

“Hammy kicked him in the wee-wee!” Tyra cackled.

Hiccup was quick to pluck Hamish away while Dagur wheezed, cupping his groin. “Okay! All of you out and get ready for breakfast. Take them there, Toothless, please.” He deposited Hamish securely on the Night Fury’s back, the boy looked less than pleased being at the dragon’s back, knowing he had to sit still lest he fell. His daughters cheered and climbed on Toothless’ back to join the ride as he lumbered away.

The taller chief sighed and hovered close, checking on his husband.

Dagur tried to brush it off. “I’m fine, I’m fine… I barely felt it,” he groaned.

Hiccup patted his hip and leaned to kiss his temple. “I’ll help with breakfast.”

“No… you’re gonna burn the house down.” He grinned cheekily.

His husband shoved his shoulder with a huff. “Oh, get up then since you’re fine. There goes my sympathy.”

Dagur chuckled.

A crash echoed from downstairs and an exclamation of ‘oh no!’ had both of them perking up in alarm. Dagur sprang up and out of the bed, looking no worse for wear and sprightlier considering how his morning just started. “And there goes my new skillet!”

Dagur hurried down and called out, “Kids, sit at the table and don’t touch anything! I’m coming right down!” Hiccup followed behind at a steadier pace.

When they arrived at the scene, their daughters were sitting primly on their chairs and Hamish was hugged between Sleuther’s pincers, the dragon oddly affectionate and attached to an indifferent Hamish; the picture of innocence had it not been for the iron skillet and wooden spoon on the floor. Evidence of the crime.

Hiccup chuckled, moving to take care of the children while Dagur sighed and moved to make breakfast. There was a minor fuss about whether he should cook eggs or not since Tyra wanted some just to spite her sister, who didn’t want any. That was quickly sorted out, and Tyra happily, and smugly, ate her eggs in front of her scowling sister.

The family enjoyed a hearty breakfast, and though the dragons had eaten their share, Dagur was quick to catch his children dropping bits of their breakfast to eager dragons and delivered a reprimand. It was loud and chaotic, but it brought him comfort watching his rowdy family; even Hiccup joined in entertaining the children with gusto.

When the meal was done, the table cleaned, and all was ready for the day, Hiccup called the children to attention. When they lined neatly in front of him, he crouched to their level. Dagur watched from the side, pretending to busy himself with washing dishes.

“Okay kids, you’re going to spend time with daddy for today, alright? You guys are going to have so much fun, while Pabbi’s just going to be stuck in a boring old meeting.” Hiccup pouted to exaggerate his displeasure.

That didn’t seem to have the desired effect as they turned alarmed eyes at him. Dagny quickly seized his tunic as if he would disappear. “But- but Pabbi, we didn’t even play together.”

“Yeah! Pabbi, no fair!” Tyra stomped her foot and crossed her arms, looking very displeased. Hamish followed her, arms crossed, with a “No!”

Dagur really hated to be the bearer of bad news to his kids, usually, he would pout until Hiccup gave in and did the deed himself… but he didn’t like seeing the sad faces on his kids either. “Aw, c’mon you guys! Don’t you wanna spend time with me? That really hurts, ya know!”

They stared blankly at him before turning pleading eyes to Hiccup once more with cries of ‘Pabbi, don’t go, _pleaaase_!’

Ouch. That stung.

Hamish began to scrunch his face, a clear indication that he was winding up for a big cry, and Hiccup was already starting to panic at the sight of all three kids with teary eyes. Dagur clapped his hands once, loudly, halting all current and coming tantrums. “Who wants to go to the boat shops with me?”

Now _that_ got a more positive reaction. The children began to round on Dagur eagerly, their taller father now forgotten, jumping and raising their hands with cries of ‘Me! Me! Me!’

Boat shops are what they’ve taken to calling the trading ships, they merely called it as they saw it. Shops on a boat, full of cool, shiny things. Usually only one of them joined at a time because they knew the lucky tag-along got to buy something that they wanted. The prospect of all three of them joining was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Hiccup looked relieved from behind them, while Dagur smiled smugly as Tyra jumped around.

“Let’s go to the boat shops!” Her siblings cheered and both girls rushed to change into their nice tunics and dresses, leaving Hamish to crawl after, babbling all the while. Sleuther followed the youngest Haddock at his pace, cooing, making sure he got there no doubt.

“See? I got it.” Dagur tilted his chin up and looked at his husband with a grin. 

Hiccup rolled his eyes. “It hasn’t even been a whole day yet, just you wait.”

“ _No, Dagny! That’s my dress!_ ” Came a screech from above.

_“Daddy!”_

He hurried to do some damage control and missed Hiccup’s sly grin.

Hiccup had made his leave when Dagur was in the middle of putting a tunic on Hamish, the girls jumping around in excitement, their skirts dancing. The taller of the chiefs had kissed all of them goodbye; he whispered a cheeky ‘good luck’ to Dagur’s ear just as he left, taking Toothless with him. That made his brow twitch and he muttered under his breath.

“Dada?”

He lifted his head to find he had put Hamish’s tunic the other way around. “Oops. Sorry, Ham. Let’s fix that for you.”

His only son gave him a scowl as if he had done something offensive. It looked so much like Hiccup’s own expression of annoyance that Dagur gave a chuckle that he cut short before it could run wild. Didn’t need to keep the kids waiting.

“Daddy let’s go! Let’s go! Hammy can stay, we can go!” Tyra proposed.

At the words ‘Hammy’ and ‘stay’, his son gave a cry of protest.

“Hey! No, we’re not leaving your brother. We’re not leaving you, Ham” Dagur was quick to settle the peace. “Tyra, be good, please. Don’t tease your brother like that.”

He was quick to lift his son on his sling, securing him on his back with practiced ease. “Alright! Everybody ready?”

His daughters cheered, grabbing a hand and began tugging him to the door. He whistled for Sleuther to follow and the striped dragon obeyed, sniffing at Hamish’s fingers from behind him as Dagur was pulled out the door.

The day was bright and warm from the sun, and the trading docks were full. Ships were plenty with merchandise and the docks were full of eager shoppers. Dagur made a mental list on what to get, hoping to get everything done before mid-morning. “Alright, kids! We’re gonna head- where’s your sister?”

Dagur had looked down to find only Dagny presently on his side, sucking on her thumb, no sight of his eldest around. His fellow red head merely hummed and pointed further down the path. Dagur looked to find Tyra skipping happily down the steps to the docks.

“That’s not good…” Dagur muttered and swept his daughter under his arm. She cried a ‘Weeeee!’ as he rushed after his eldest.

“Tyra! Hey, nuh uh! You gotta stick close with me, miss.” He scooped her up, much to her protest. “Listen up, my cute little spawn! You all have to stick close to daddy today and listen, okay? Especially you, my little terror.” He shifted his squirming eldest in his arms. “Ready, Berserkers? Berkians?... Berserkians? Hm… gotta tell Hiccup about that.”

He had eventually let them down once they reached the trading docks. They grew excited at the items that were being advertised, attention easily diverted from one ship to another, but they thankfully stuck close. Dagur waved and returned the greetings of the village folk. Sometimes they cooed at his children, showering them with compliments, and he puffed with pride. His children _are_ cute, handsome, strong and everything in between. They are his and Hiccup’s children after all! Two mighty chieftains-

A fretful coo interrupted his thoughts and he looked at his dragon companion. Somehow Sleuther managed to give him a pointed look and Dagur realized that he was short of two daughters. He ran a hand through his hair. “Odin help me.” He looked again at his striped companion. “You go left, I go right?” Sleuther grunted and lumbered in the opposite direction.

“Everyone’s leaving me, Ham.” Dagur sighed to his quiet son as he began his search. “Welp, at least I got you, lil’ man, right?”

Hamish grunted, butting his head on the back of Dagur’s neck.

Dagur tried not to panic, but the longer he kept looking, the more he began to worry. He shifted Hamish to his front when he began to fuss; thankfully, he settled quickly, making himself busy fiddling with the collar of Dagur’s tunic- _There!_ From the corner of his eye, a little head of red hair. Dagur found her by a stall that held golden jewellery, staring, enraptured, not at the glittering gold, but at the trader wearing them, who stared back, bemused. He hurried to her.

“You, young miss, are in big trouble,” Dagur said, scooping her up.

She pouted, eyes wide and guilty, but Dagur wouldn’t budge. She knew better.

“A keen eye, your daughter has, chief,” chuckled the goldsmith, taking sight of his crest.

“And fast little legs.” He gave a pointed look at the still pouting girl.

The man gave a booming laugh, shaking his head. He plucked something from his stall and held it out to his daughter. It was a thin gold bracelet with a charm the shape of a leaf dangling from it. “For the little one.”

Dagny’s eyes brightened, but she looked first at her dad with pleading eyes. Dagur nearly cursed. Hiccup did always say he was quick to buckle when it came to the kids. He reached for his pouch of coins, but the goldsmith shook his head. “No payment…”

His daughter smiled brightly and reached to get the bracelet, but he pulled it back with a pointed look. “But _only_ if you listen to your father from now, hm?”

“Yes!” Dagny nodded with a grin. She turned to Dagur and patted his cheek, “Sorry, Daddy.”

Dagur grinned and offered his check for her to kiss. “You’re forgiven, honey.”

The man placed the bracelet on her wrist. It was too big for her, but she didn’t seem to care as she admired it. She flaunted it to her brother, who uttered an intrigued, ‘ooh!’

While they were occupied, Dagur turned to the man, “Thanks.”

The goldsmith chuckled. “Soon as they start to walk, they start wanting to explore every nook and cranny, eh? Not to worry, chief, they’ll learn to listen.”

Heavy footsteps lumbered from behind him, and Dagur watched his dragon escort a whining Tyra to him. Sleuther nudged her back when she didn’t look up from her boots. She glanced up at the figure of her father and burst to tears, crashing into his legs. “’m sorry, Daddy!” she cried into his thigh.

Dagur gave a relieved sigh and patted her back. He glanced back at the goldsmith, who merely winked back.

Things went a little more smoothly shortly after that. Neither girls had strayed from him thereafter and he managed to get everything he needed, carried in baskets on Sleuther. Despite the rocky start, Dagur felt they’ve behaved enough for a treat, so he allowed them to get one thing. All left the docks happy. They took a little later than Dagur would like, but the sight of home gave him some relief. They’d be easier to keep an eye on inside.

But once they stepped past the door of their home, Tyra frowned and looked around. “Where’s pabbi?”

“Pabbi?” Dagny perked.

Dagur cringed. He didn’t think they’d forget so quickly. “He’s at a meeting, remember? He probably won’t be back til tonight…”

“But-but,” Dagny began to tear up. “I wanna show him my new shiny thing!”

“That’s not fair!” Tyra shouted. “I want Pabbi!”

Hamish began to scrunch his brows. “Pa!”

There went the peace.

“Hey, you gotta be patient guys, c’mon now. He’ll be back before you know it!” He said cheerfully. They still didn’t look convinced and shared a look between each other that made his lips twitch. That was cute. He tried for another tactic. “You guys want honeycakes?”

“YES!”

Disaster avoided.

He watched fondly as they giggled and whispered to each other. “Those who help put away the stuff gets to lick the batter off the spoon.”

They both gasped and rushed to the baskets he had taken off of Sleuther’s back. He then took Hamish out of the sling and held him in his arm. “So, how bout you, Ham?”

“Hun’gy”

“For honeycakes?”

“Yah.” Hamish smiled.

Dagur smirked. Take that, Hiccup.

Two hours later, Dagur wanted to take his words back.

The kitchen was a mess. The batter was splattered all over the place, the children were covered in it, _the ceiling_ was covered in it and dripping to the floor, and not a cooked honeycake in sight. Hamish was throwing a fit at the batter in his hair and his daughters were on other sides of the room, refusing to speak or even look at each other. His poor dragon wasn’t spared either and had probably scurried for a place to clean himself up and have some peace. Something Dagur was begging Odin for.

He sighed heavily and rubbed his throbbing forehead with a sticky hand. He didn’t even want to know what state he was in.

It happened all because Tyra accidentally splattered some flour on Dagny when she mixed to hard. Things spiralled downwards from there. Dagur had been quick to separate them but the damage to the kitchen had been done.

He took Hamish’s tunic off and tried to clean him up as best he could. He gathered them all in front of him. All three grumpy faces stared back at him.

“Look,” he began with a sigh. “I know you guys would rather have Pabbi here. I get it, I want Pabbi here too, but he won’t come home any quicker just because we’re not being nice to each other. I don’t like it when you guys fight, it makes daddy sad. We should be having so much fun instead, don’t you think?”

They all nodded, muttering a ‘yes’. Their frowns slowly melted away into guilty looks.

Dagur offered them a smile. “Great. How about a bath?”

Their reactions were a lot less enthused and he felt his smile falter a bit.

When Hiccup came through the door just before dinner, the children were ecstatic and were quick to clamber up to him for attention. He had greeted them all happily before they turned their attentions to Toothless. He stepped towards his husband while the children were busy.

As soon as Hiccup had spotted his red-haired partner, he knew something was bothering him. He saw his shoulders were tense and his smile was a bit forced. He had a feeling he didn’t have the easiest of days and kept from continuing that morning’s banter or teasing him. He ran a hand down his arm and held his hand. “Hey, everything alright?”

“Yeah. Of course, why wouldn’t it be alright? You’re home now. Everything’s great!” He grinned.

Hiccup hummed. So that was a no.

He thought it was best to not bring it up yet and accepted a kiss before he was ushered to dinner.

Later that night, while the children dressed into their nightclothes, Hiccup peeked into their bedroom and found Dagur laying on his back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He walked over and sat beside him. He ran his hand through his hair, making his lover sigh.

“What’s wrong?”

There was a moment of silence that Hiccup didn’t interrupt before Dagur sighed again. “You were right.”

“About what?” He said patiently, continuing with his ministrations.

“I couldn’t handle all three of them. I almost lost the girls twice, I made them cry, the kitchen got messed up, and everybody was miserable. I ruined their day. They prefer you having to take care of them, they’d probably be better off with you too. I’m the _worst_ dad in Midgard,” Dagur groaned, throwing an arm over his eyes.

Used to his outbursts and rants, Hiccup waited for him to let it all out before he spoke. “Did the kids tell you that?”

“No…”

“Dagur, you didn’t ruin anyone’s day and you certainly aren’t the worst dad. In fact, you’re a wonderful dad!”

His husband shook his head. “I can’t even take care of them.”

“Hey, they’re in one piece, aren’t they?” His attempt at humour received a bland look and he cleared his throat. “Look, just taking care of one of them for the whole day would have me wanting to rip my hair out on a good day. You did amazing today.” He gave a soft peck to his cheek. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. I’ll put the kids to bed.”

Dagur smiled as he left, feeling a bit better, but he couldn’t help from replaying the list of disasters that happened today. His mind was filled with ‘if only’s. If only he kept the girls closer, if only he had visited the docks earlier, if only he mixed the batter instead. He felt miserable seeing each frown and hearing each cry from his children, especially when he knew he could have avoided it.

He heard the door creak open and he glanced at the entrance. He was surprised to find his children and Hiccup by the door and sat up. His two girls quickly clambered over to him after a gentle nudge from Hiccup. They embraced him just as Hiccup sat with Hamish in his arms.

“Hey, I thought you guys were going to bed?” He shot a confused glance at Hiccup, who only smiled, but returned the embrace, easily holding both girls.

“Daddy, we’re sorry we were bein’ naughty,” said Tyra.

“You sad, Daddy? ‘m sorry for fighting.” Dagny burrowed deeper to his side and her little arms gripped him tighter.

“Me too.” Tyra nodded, her green eyes earnest and a bit teary.

Hamish reached out to Dagur from Hiccup’s arms with a firm, “Dada”. He let the little boy down on Dagur’s lap and he joined the embrace.

“Daddy’s pretty amazing huh? He brought you guys out for a nice walk, bought you nice things, and he even made a super yummy dinner,” Hiccup piped. He grinned when he saw his husband blush.

“Yah, Daddy’s the best!” His eldest nodded.

“I love you, Daddy!” Dagny patted his cheek and gave it a kiss.

“Me, too!” Tyra said quickly, not one to be bested by her younger sister.

Hamish nodded seriously and uttered a simple, “Yah.”

Cheeks a furious red, Dagur smiled so wide his cheeks hurt. His heart felt close to bursting with happiness. He held all of his children close. “Aw, thank you, you sweethearts. Daddy loves you too.”

“Don’t forget me,” Hiccup grinned as he slid closer and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “I’m the one who loves Daddy most, after all.”

“Nu-uh!”

“No way! I do!”

Dagur laughed. Having his family close, he felt that it turned out to be a successful day after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Prompts are welcome!


End file.
